


Bright Berries

by Serrenedy



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:02:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 12,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26848618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Serrenedy/pseuds/Serrenedy
Summary: MY SUBMISSION FOR JNPR BERRIES WEEK!!!! (here's hoping I can write fast enough to keep up with flickering muse between classes
Relationships: Jaune Arc/Lie Ren, Jaune Arc/Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Nora Valkyrie, Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren/Nora Valkyrie, Lie Ren/Pyrrha Nikos, Pyrrha Nikos/Nora Valkyrie
Comments: 8
Kudos: 27
Collections: JNPR Berries Week





	1. Background noise of happiness

_ **Prompt- Domestic** _

  
  
Pyrrha wasn’t supposed to cook. Actually that wasn’t quite true. How to say it best? Oh yes, Pyrrha was _expressly forbidden_ to cook. Jaune had actually yelled last time he’d found her in ‘his’ kitchen. But…..Jaune wasn’t _here_ right now. And she needed to make dinner for herself while the others were out. Now didn’t she?  
  
The mission specs had stated that one hunter should be able to clear the nest but that another was needed to protect the people because they kept panicking and at present there was a very real danger of another nest forming nearby due to them. Therefore the executive decision was that Jaune would amplify Ren so that he could handle the people while Nora dealt with the Grimm _and_ the forming second nest. There was a lightning storm on the way, she’d be fine. That meant it was up to Pyrrha to protect the Vallian Village where they lived.  
  
It was a good area, not much happened. But today a deathstalker had wandered in. It was almost laughably easy to take it down and she chuckled to herself, remembering that it had taken ALL of them to handle one. _Granted_ they were also helping RWBY with the giant Nevermore and both teams had managed to handle their respective problems easily enough.   
  
She went to cook dinner but ran into a problem. She tended to use Rye Flour as it was healthier…..it also tasted a lot worse according to her team. She didn’t mind the taste….she also couldn’t find it. She checked the pantries….then the cupboards….no….OH! She tended to forget that she hid her ‘healthy alternative’ foods. Mostly because if Nora or Jaune found them she’d be subjected to _pouting_ . And they’d give her a whole _day_ of pampering to make up for her ‘ _torturing’_ herself. Ren was no help, often just smirking and helping. Though, when the nutritionist agreed that she was torturing herself…..STILL, they weren't here to complain. She went to her hidden stash and saw it…...full of sugary treats…..and a note from Nora. 

_I’m holding it hostage!!!!!_ _  
_ _You don’t even_ like _it P!!!!_ _  
_ _Have some fun!!!!!!_

 _No one’s gonna think any less of you_ _  
_ **OR I’LL BREAK THEM!!!!!!**

 _LOVE YOU BABE!!!!_ _  
  
_

Pyrrha blinked a few times at the note in her hand. The smirk caught her off guard as it pulled at her lips. She tried to school her face….but it was no use. She was smiling…..then _giggling._ The note fell from her fingers as her arms went around her stomach, still letting out peals of laughter. Then there were _tears_  
  
“Damn it Nora” The smile was still on her face, even as she composed herself. She thought she’d been so careful not letting anyone see how stressed out she’d been lately. She didn’t know how Nora had picked up on the fact that she didn’t think she deserved any carbs….a …. _side effect_ of….well, trying to maintain being the invincible girl. She picked up the sleeve of Gingersnaps. Her favorites….and with another note. 

_Hello darling_

_Your favorite soup is in the fridge_

_You are the only reason I get to cook anymore_

_We thought you’d want some thinking time alone_

_But unfortunately for you_

_We can’t bear to be away that long_

_We miss you too much_

_See you soon_ _  
_ _I can’t wait to kiss you._

She gave a soft smile at Ren’s handwriting. She wasn’t ashamed to admit that she placed the paper up by her cheek. She could almost feel his lips, a feather light touch. She shook her head again, amazed at her partners giving her, essentially, the day off. She went back into the kitchen and sure enough, in the fridge, was her soup! She put it into a pot to heat it up and was struck with the idea to eat in her pajamas. …. If she was having a day off. She went upstairs to find that…..her pajamas had been taken. This wasn’t a strange or even _new_ scenario. Everyone’s clothes were stolen by one another so often that they could only tell them apart by color…...and the fact that nothing of Nora’s fit right. Someone was enjoying her negligee. She suspected Ren himself, she also suspected that sometimes he brought them all clothes for the express purpose of stealing them later. She opted for Jaune’s pjs. He had the coziest ones, and it _was_ a little nippy out.  
  


That was how she was found when the others came home. Half asleep in front of the television with baby blue footie pajamas on. The soup was finished, but she was still working on the ginger snaps. She didn’t look up as the door closed, but she shifted slightly, bracing herself.  
  
Sure enough the minute her armor was off, Nora _leapt_ onto the couch, cuddling up to Pyrrha, whom lifted her arm so that the smaller woman could burrow into her.They nuzzled happily and shared a small peck….before Nora was distracted by trying to steal her gingersnapps.   
  
“Hey” Jaune smiled, as he walked over “Those are mine” He settled down on Pyrrha’s other side to give her a kiss on the cheek 

“To be fair” Ren smirked as he padded over, in the process of undoing his battle braids “I may have stolen hers.” She called it. Ren settled down on the other side of Nora, whom decided that she wanted to be in _everyone’s_ lap, leaning over to rest her head on Jaune’s chest and curling her legs onto Ren. Jaune started absentmindedly playing in Nora’s hair. Ren gave Pyrrha a kiss on the cheek before resting his head on her shoulder.   
  
“What’re we watching?” He asked, already half asleep from the warmth and safety of his partners.  
  
“Whatever Nora changes it to” Pyrrha said, handing the remote over. She didn’t care. Not right now, not when everyone was home, and safe, and whole and happy. She didn’t care at all, the background noise of their happiness.


	2. A SHOCKING turn of events

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shush shush-don't notice the late cause I got distracted playing a game-just look at the sweet kay

_**2-Promt- sickness** _

Ren was the fastest, and it was a _good thing_ he was. He was able to leap out of the path of the stray lightning bolt produced by one _impressive_ sneeze. The spot where he’d just been standing, the wall where he’d been now bore a blackened smear. Nora sniffed.   
  
“Sorry Renni” Ren smiled indulgently, never one to hold things like this against her. He _might_ have been able to a _little_...but not while she was laid up in bed buddled in enough blankets to look like some sort of large insect. While she was bundled like a chrysalis she got away with nearly barbecuing him.

"Eat the soup?" He tried beseeching. But the only thing more stubborn than regular Nora; full of righteous fury and looking to break in some legs, arms, or other extremities for the crime of being a dick in a world where misery was as good as was death sentence….was _sickly_ Nora. And sickly Nora whined like a child on top of it.

“Nu uh _grosssss_ ” she flipped around as best she could and held her nose in the air….then sneezed another lightning bolt. This one, without question, hit a target. "Sorry" she sniffles. The blonde shook out his hair, sparks still dancing along his skin as he hissed. 

“You're fine Nora. I know you didn't mean it. My aura took the brunt of it.” And true to form there wasn't even a _flickering_ of Aura, he'd simply absorbed the blow. “What will we say the next time someone tells us to come inside out of the lightning storm?” He asked, putting his hands on his hips and trying to look authoritarian in his ruffled Pumpkin Pete apron.

“It feels to **_GOOOD_ ** ” Jaune's face fell even as Ren bit back a smile, turning his face away to hide it in his hand. He'd been able to hold in a chuckle at Nora's answer. Had lost the battle with Jaune's face of helpless dejection. She hadn’t even waited a _second_ before quoting back _verbatim_ what she’d screamed into the wind when she felt the storm coming.

“You really should have expected that one!” Pyrrha called from the other room. Jaune's ll pout got even _worse_ and an actual chuckle escaped Ren. “Please give her a kiss from me!!!” Jaune pouted HARDER but Nora sniffed up at him, a hopeful look in softly glowing eyes. Jaune sighed, feeling himself crumble a little bit at the sight…..which is probably exactly what she wanted. 

“I'm not condoning your actions. I'm just the only one able to touch you right now" he grumbled, even as her smile grew both blinding and **_smug_ ** . Jaune’s massive amount of Aura was _why_ he was the only one around to touch her. Ren's was being degraded just by being too close to the living lightning bolt and….Pyrrha was….. _banned_ . When her magnetism bent Nora's lightning that first time the result had taken out _BEACON_ for a week. And that was when they were all kids. Full grown adults? There was no telling what kind of explosion would hit if they got too close now. And so it was Jaune in his impression of a Pyrra like kiss, one that caught the corner of her lips as well as Pyrrha's favorite lightning scar patch of freckles. He can practically _taste_ Nora's grin.

This was the third and hopefully last day of Nora's Semblance sickness. But they knew from experience it wouldn't last more than a week. It wasn’t even _completely_ her fault. Whenever a lightning storm started she was almost _pos_ sessed drifting outside to bask in it. And if she made it outside then it was **_far too late_ ** . None of her partner's had the ability to do much more than stare in awe at the way the lightning _danced_ around her before sinking into her body. They were powerless as her arms raised and her smile filled their face. It was hypnotic the way she seemed to dance with lightning, letting it brighten with her smile as it played in her hair. She wasn’t able to feel the rain as anything more than refreshing as it soaked her skin. The gale force winds naught but a gentle breeze. And she'd laugh and dance with all the power of the storm singing in her veins

* * *

And The day after the storm she'd be glowing bright yellow with stored electricity and Jaune was the only one able to get within a ten ft radius of her, though Ren would try his damdest and his aura would exhaust itself within ten minutes trying to keep him safe. Nora herself was mostly fine. A bad and unfortunate case of sniffles, but at the end of it all there was a movie night for them, a celebration of being able to touch their tiny girlfriend…….  
  


And Pyrrha worked with Ren to try and ‘lightning storm’ proof the house for next time  
  



	3. Gods without balance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm gonna miss tomorrow and maybe even the day after....mostly cause I have class and work and the chapters aren't finished. That being said, I'm gonna POST THEM......they might be a lil bit out of order. As for this one, I changed my mind thrice, rewrote twice. I'm done. Here's hoping it's good. It may not be. But I am DONE!!!!

3- _ **Promt-REBIRTH**_

She shook out her short hair and got up with the moon. She always opted for night watch, even if her sisters could wake with the dawn. There was a growl and she looked up, red eyes were watching her. Without thought, her knife was in hand ready to plunge into the Grimm... then she stopped herself. Charles wasn't harmful. The Beowulf snarled as she put the knife away...and followed her. 

"Sorry boy" she offered to her strange companion. But he huffed and walked behind her, terrifying enough to keep away actual predators. She reached the edge of the cliff and looked down. She had to walk away...go back home...do her perimeter check...check the plants...she liked checking plants. Instead she was looking down, at the trees. "I can land that jump" she whispered, eyes locked on a tree. The knife was back in her hand...but she didn't register Charles growling. She  _ could _ land that. She knew it. Like the memory of a dream she could feel phantom hair flying out behind her as she was launched-her knife could carve down the tree and a barrel roll would…..she screamed as she was pulled away from the edge by a massive paw. "S...sorry boy...I didn't mean to worry you" And Charles  _ did _ look worried….as worried as a Grimm  _ could _ look in the grandest scheme of things. "Let's go home"

Lynn Rosset- called Rosy-had 10 sisters and 5 brothers. Of them she alone had the wrong parentage to inherit the power of any of the gods. She was an anomaly, quite possibly the only one without power. But she had the only tamed grimm. Luckily she could make it so that the Grimm wouldn't hurt her family. But they were  _ wary _ of her. Not helped by her odd ability to become invisible to their senses. She understood  _ why _ they would be worried...but of course she'd never hurt them. She reached out to pat her mane of Charles again, lost in thought. She started to, almost mechanically tend to her plants, reaching up to gather the glossy apples before the storm hit. A few of them were ripe and got pulled but….the color….she stared at the apple, another world opening up to her. The color reminded her…...she blinked uncertainly. Uncertain _ ty _ . The most wonderful girl, worried about being good enough, worried about what the world would think, smile always tight and forced, unless they were all together…. Charles growled, the only sound he was capable of making and it startled Rosy, causing her to drop the apple she’d been clutching. She clutched at her head. Maybe she needed to pray for guidance.    
  
Lightning split the sky and the ground quaked. Charles snarled as his teeth elongated in his mouth. Grimm were products of the gods, and so not to be harmed…..that rule wasn’t followed very well. It ended up with a lot of innocent villages dying, struck down by the goddess of chaos. She didn’t mean to. Her grimm were precious to her, and when someone harmed them she got…. _ upset _ . While she herself was chaotic, her name was chosen by her moods, as ever changing as the lightning she wore like jewelry. Lightning was her motif. The other goddess opted for earth, draped in the gold and jewels that were pried from under it, she shook and scarred the earth both, the goddess of Compassion, wracked by insurmountable guilt over her own actions. It was believed the Grimm  _ came  _ from her. For they hunted down negative emotions. Perhaps they were only incensed that at the end of their trail was not their miserable mother.. The singular god was as much to blame as the lightning goddess for the storms that razed the land. The wind god was known as Justice, and as his wind he was everywhere, ready to strike down even the smallest infraction. 

Rosy gathered up what crops she could, as the fire goddess Chaos once again shot her rage against the sky. There would be no beasts on the perimeter today. None were foolish enough to ignore the warnings of their deities. Animals after all, were far smarter than humans. She raced inside and pulled tight everything as she went. Doors were bolted shut, windows reinforced, she didn’t know what she’d done, but better to protect then have anything for Justice to find fault with. She could hear her family, waking up to lock everything down as well. Charles was her protector as she went into her personal panic room. Her siblings all had minor powers, could buff the winds away from themselves, or twist the lightning away from hurting themselves. The only power she had was to hide from the gods, not a power of them, and no one knew where she’d gained it. Charles snarled slightly as she vanished from his senses, from all senses in the room where the storm couldn’t reach. She had to make herself relax, however she could. So she let herself drift out, body going into motions she didn’t know if she’d be able to recreate if she were fully concentrating. The moves illustrated strength and power, but she was only going through the motions, unaware of what she was actually doing. Charles meanwhile, paced around the-to him-empty room, trying to locate his missing mistress. 

It was a few nights later, when she was getting the morning ready for her siblings, when she was headed to bed, that  _ it _ happened. It was difficult to meditate when the disasters were becoming more frequent, the gods hunting down the girl who’s very existence defied and betrayed them...but this was meditative in it’s own way. The whisking of the eggs into the batter, the measuring milk. It was soothing to cook breakfast for her large family. And a lot easier when  _ someone  _ wasn’t trying to eat the pancakes fresh out of the pan. Honestly Nora presentation...is…….who’s Nora? 

Crystal and Mauve raced into the kitchen, waking up at the sound of Rosy and the pan both hitting the ground. The abomination was okay, just a mild fever….and crying. 

“Rosy-posey?” Mauve’s heavy hand rested on her forehead as she took shaking breaths. Crystal had gone to finish breakfast. But this….people didn’t usually  _ get _ sick. Had the gods found her out? Were they striking her down for the crime of her life? Mauve crawled into bed with his little sister, pressing his body to hers and wrapping her up in his arms, crying as he tried to think of how to save her from the crime she unknowingly committed. It wasn’t her fault she was born wrong. And yet...she was punished. He held on tightly, as if she’d vanish like smoke if he didn’t hold on. From almost murdering Grimm- a death sentence, to wandering into danger under the illusion she could handle herself, to the knife she’d found somewhere and wouldn’t put down. The gods  **_must_ ** have known about her. And they were getting angrier with her for living. She felt like she was  _ melting. _ It had progressed from zoning out, to headaches, to nose bleeds, now this. 

  
  


Rosy looked back at her home. It was the dead of night, no siblings were awake, even though they hadn’t let her out of their sight the month after she’d gotten sick. It was getting **_worse_**. Two nights ago there had been a localized lightning storm that set fire to their fields. When everyone save her had run outside to try and combat the flames, an earthquake _shattered_ the foundation of their home. The earthquakes had never hit the actual house before, just around it, just warnings to leave the area. Compassion was kind like that. They had packed up and moved six times in the last two years. The fire was eventually put out by a freak ice storm. That was concerning all on its own. Justice had never sent ice before. Undoubtedly the gods had enough of her muddying their world and were seeking to actually kill her now. Fine….kill her….spare her family. She walked steady, though there was terror in her heart. This was for the best, and she explained that in her letter. It was wholly unfair for her to continuously put her family in danger, she felt like it wasn’t the first time she’d marched off to certain death to save her family. And so she was giving up. She hadn’t taken that much food with her, after all, with only the stored food left her family would need as much as they could get before they found a new place to plant. And she wasn’t going to be eating for much longer.   
  
Charles huffed next to her and she cried into his mane, even as she walked the overgrown trail up the cliff. This was to protect her family. She couldn’t make the trip in one day. The path wasn’t cared for, the wrath of Justice was found everywhere and not many wished to worship him out here where pretty crime was the only means of survival, overcharging your services, taking what didn’t belong to you because you weren't sure if the person that left it was even alive. Justice was ignored here. Far more worshiped and accessible was the altar of Chaos. Between always doing her chores, helping out when she could, and now trying to sacrifice herself to save her family….she probably wouldn’t be able to _reach_ the temple of Chaos. So when the ground started to shake and the wind began to howl she ducked into a cave with Charles. The red eyed creature looked at her as she built a small fire in the back of the cave. It wasn’t until the cave was warming that she registered the fact that she’d never so much as _seen_ someone manually start a fire. 

“Not many people take this path” Rosy jumped up from her half sleeping state to see the woman in front of her. Where had she come from in that storm? “Why are you here?” The woman asked, her long golden hair spilling over her shoulders as she tilted her head. 

“I was going to the temple.” Rosy answered, backing away from the mystery woman, trusty knife in her hand. Blue eyes lock to it, before a smile spreads.    
  
“Calm down.” A chuckle “I’m  _ so _ not a threat. Your friend would tell you if I was” Rosy blinks, then looks at Charles. He’s not snarling. Not angry, not attacking. It’s the calmest she’s ever seen him. It’s his calm that lets her relax, lets the woman walk closer. “I’m interested in that knife of yours. Where did you get it?  _ How _ did you get it?” Rosy blinked in confusion, looking at her blade….then back at the strange woman. 

“I…..I had it. I was…..walking…..before my family gave me Charles to startle me out of it….I mean...I have these….visions….kind of. I zone out, Charles wakes me up. But….before Charles….I wandered everywhere. I wandered…..and woke up with it. It seems important.” The woman groans and glares at Charles. 

“You were supposed to spark memories. P was  _ sure _ he couldn’t forget” She scolded. Rosy looks now, in confusion, between the strange woman and the ashamed Grimm. That….what was going on here? The Woman walked around the fire, even upset to scratch behind Charles’ ear. “Oh well, you’re here now. And that’s the important part.” Rosy blinks, unsure of who the Woman’s even talking to now.    
  
“Who” And mildly amused blue eyes fixated on her, feeling both familiar and unsettling at the same time. “Who  _ are  _ you?” The Woman had a laugh like a church bell, brash, loud, bright, and unexpected. She leaned in with a mischievous smile. 

“Who do you  _ think  _ I am?” It’s only then that Rosy realizes that the wind is….wrong. There was a warm breeze in the cave itself...but the wind outside had died out, despite building up to a twister an hour ago. This was…… “And don’t say ‘Justice’” The god in front of her winks. “I can’t  _ stand  _ that name. I mean….it’s  _ accurate _ but not really a name. Ya know?” Rosy scrambles backwards. This was one of those that wanted her dead. 

“I’m so sorry!” the words tumbled out before she could stop them. That was her plan wasn’t it. Walk to the temple, prostate herself, and apologize for the crime of her life so that her family would be spared. She just….perhaps selfishly, thought she had more time. Still, she’d lasted this long...no more stolen time on her side. 

“Sorry?” Justice tilts their head. “For hiding you mean?” A breathless chuckle. “You were always hard to pin down when you wanted alone time. P’s sorry about all the quakes. She was trying to find you. You kept vanishing from where Nor said she saw you.” Their face twists up. “Any reason I can’t say any real names right now?” The bright eyes fix once more on Rosy’s frightened face. “Do you  _ still _ not remember?” 

“What am I trying to remember?” Rosy asks the god, whom gives a huff of irritation. 

“ _ Really _ !?” They throw their hands up. “What good are you” They’re talking to Charles now, fluffing the Beowulf’s face between their hands and nearly cooing at it. “We unleashed Grimm onto the world for one purpose and you  _ still  _ failed at your job. Bad baby!” Then the attention was back on Rosy. “Do you need a refresher? I don’t mind. I missed you. We all have.” Nothing was making sense, but anything a god wanted, you were more than likely better off just handing it over. And so she nodded, flushing slightly at the  _ overjoyed _ smile the god gained. Charles was gently pushed away and Justice’s hands were  _ soft _ as, gingerly…. _ tenderly _ the god cupped her face in their hands and pulled her in for a kiss. 

* * *

  
  


_ The lips were slightly chapped. Ren hummed into the kiss, absently noting that he’d need to get Jaune in on the skincare regime before the poor beautiful disaster ended up cracking his lips and skin. Jaune, so worried, fell apart almost instantly, softly relaxing his mouth upon meeting the petal soft lips. The mint on Ren’s tongue could be tasted even through closed lips, which didn’t stay closed for long, opening to accept said mint while the smaller boy was held firmer and closer until he’s practically in the knight’s lap,The mint tongue finding the sugar sweet one and sucking on it, causing Jaune’s hands to tighten and his tongue to gingerly map out the mouth of the ninja. Ren’s mouth has also quirked upwards in a smile. Long fingers have found their way to tangle in blonde hair. All that was needed was a nudge and……..and it’s only Sun clearing his throat that brings Jaune to the present and he realizes that spin the bottle wasn’t supposed to get….quite so…. He’s bright red as he separates from a chuckling Ren. Ren, monster that he is, opts to spend the rest of the game in the lap of his team leader. _

* * *

Rosy blinks harshly as the memory assaults her vision. Oh that was….Wait….that was….. “ _ Jaune _ ” And the god, who they now know is gender fluid and shrugs along with any presumption of pronoun, simply grins.    
  
“Hey Ren.” And he wipes away a tear that’s started to fall without permission. “We’ve spent the last five  _ hundred  _ years looking for you.” Rosy…. _ Ren  _ looks at Charles. There’s an odd double vision now, from the actual Grimm to….a dog. Even the body of, who they now register as Saphron, flickers to show Jaune in the edges. 

  
  
  
The world heals. The quakes of Compassion are filled with water. Turned into lakes for animals to live and grow and flourish. The fires of Chaos were used to banish rotted trees before the rains stopped them from hurting anything truly important. And the bitterly cold winds of Justice are tempered with warm, life giving rain. They call this new god Balance. And he seems happy with it. …. The last time Rosy is seen….it is to apologize to her siblings, and explain that she never  _ truly  _ had a life with them. She was just the runaway avatar of an amnesiac god. But the family had forever, the favor of the gods, for their unerring kindness to Balance. 


	4. Cotton Candy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all the same timeline. And yes I DID yada yada over Pyrrha's return thanks for noticing.

4- fluff

They click as well in pairs as they do together.Maybe that’s why they’re so good. They didn’t need to always be a unit. 

**_What it means to Lead_ **

“You should’ve been the leader” She blinks uncertainly. To her at least, this has come  _ RIGHT  _ out of nowhere. It was their usual early morning training. Two hours before breakfast.    
  
“Jaune you’ve been making marked improvements in leaps and bounds. I can’t think of anyone that would be progressing as well as you are right now!” She’s smiling at him, trying to calm him from his worries. While it’s valiant….it doesn’t work and her smile slowly falls the longer he stays silent, sitting cross legged on the roof and staring out to the campus. She slowly walks over and sits next to him, a silent prod to speak more. It takes him another few moments before he takes the deep breath. 

“You’re a better fighter than me.” The words are soft. “You’re stronger, better grip on your semblance, hell you  _ have  _ a semblance, you know about Aura, I don’t know anything. I never learned how to fight, I didn’t learn any of this in combat school cause I never went, I wasn’t allowed to. I’m only here cause my sister Ciiyan taught me how to hack without knowing why I asked her. So I’m going to ask Ozpin if he can transfer leadership.” Pyrrha is silent for a long time, until he starts to leave, rising and starting back inside.    
  
“I think you make a far better leader than I would,” She said softly, but so firmly it reaches him. Her words make the blonde freeze, so she continues. “I have been doing exhibition matches and training since I learned how to walk. I know quite a few fighting styles and how to counter several attacks, I choose the weapons I wanted but I am trained to use a large variety, I excel at hand to hand and memorization. ….. And I would get us all killed.” 

“ _ What?!”  _ Well, that keeps him from leaving at least. He storms back over. “Pyrrha that’s  _ crazy _ you’re the best fighter in school!” She nods calmly. “How could you say that you’d get us killed?  _ I’ll  _ get us killed. I couldn’t take down an  _ Ursa _ by myself…..I felt my shield pull up…. _ you _ did that. I just….tried and failed. And I don’t even know how to  _ talk  _ to the others. They’re a unit by themselves, you’re amazing, I’m just a liability….I don’t deserve to be the leader.”    
  
“Jaune?” Pyrrha started “Are you…..unaware of what you’re capable of?” She got up and turned to him, seeing his dumbfounded expression for herself. “You wanted to be a huntsmen, so you hacked into a  _ combat school _ to manufacture transcripts. You figured out I was using my semblance, which I  _ assure  _ you is a minority of people, you were able to keep up on your homework while also doing the homework of a whole other team, you are currently at a level of someone that’s been fighting for at least a year and it’s only after a  _ month  _ of training! You  _ think _ ...and you never stop. I don’t believe I’ve met anyone as intelligent or dedicated as you are. I would rush in and handle a problem by myself. And if I couldn’t…..but you….you  _ thought  _ of a way around the problem. You are an  _ amazing  _ leader…..well, if you actually spend time with your team.” She smiled at him. “I’m sure Ren and Nora can benefit as much as I’ve been able too.”    
  
“As….you?” His head tilts adorably. “How did I benefit you?  _ You’re  _ the one helping  _ me _ .” She chuckled a bit at that.    
  
“Well, besides giving me an excuse to go over basics, which I have a horrible tendency to do, you encourage thinking. You don’t realize this, but you change your attack style everytime you strike. It keeps me on my toes, and teaches me that sometimes, attacks won’t be clean or uniform. Everytime you disarm me, that’s  _ you _ . And I wouldn’t want any other leader.” All at once she’s wrapped in his arms. She knows it’s just for now, that he’ll be back to swooning over Weiss in a few hours, that he doesn’t notice her. But…..but she holds him close, holds  _ this  _ close and allows herself to  _ pretend _ .

  
  


**_Nighttime Blues_ **

Ren had nightmares. Who wouldn’t in a world full of Grimm. The creatures were bad enough to give anyone nightmares...Huntsman had even more...in Ren’s specific case…..seeing his father devoured…..his village destroyed.

His voice was choked back in his throat, because if he screamed, the grimm would  **_find_ ** him. He could sense them, out there in the darkness, they  _ were _ the darkness. Every hidden shadow was a Grimm. They were surrounded by them,  _ drowning  _ in them, the endless horde and he had no weapons. He was a failure. His father had always told him that not doing anything was worse than committing the crime. But the Grimm were everywhere and here he was, paralyzed by fear. They were melting out of the shapes he’d once thought were trees. And if they found him...he’d be dead. Ripped apart and strewn about. And if he were ripped apart then it would cause misery in each friend and loved one that encountered him. And if they were generating misery then the Grimm would find them. They would be destroyed. It would be his fault. Him and his stupid heart and don’t  _ cry  _ the Grimm can sense-   
  


“Ren?” Blossom eyes snapped open, settling on brilliant blue. Jaune is sitting on the bed with him...wait…. _ bed.  _ Ren glances around, trying to get his bearings. “You’re shaking” Jaune’s voice as soft and Ren can feel Jaune’s hand gently rubbing his back.    
  
“I’m fine” His voice is strained, barely audible and horse on top of it. It wouldn’t fool a complete stranger let alone Jaune, whom frowns as Ren goes still and calm, using his semblance to repress his own emotions. Jaune taps his twice, urgently.    
  
“Don’t do that.” Ren’s gaze is blank as his eyes meet his team leader’s. “No I mean it. You…” Jaune frowns and looks away. “I’m sorry if...I mean…..I’d like it if you felt safe here.” Ren’s mouth opens but Jaune cuts him off. “Which you don’t Ren you don’t even feel like you can feel here and….I can’t force that….I….” A breathless chuckle. “I get it. I mean….this isn’t a safe environment. I’m a terrible leader and-”   
  
Jaune’s monologue was cut off by Ren hugging him…. _ clinging  _ to him. Jaune instantly pulled the smaller boy into his arms, running at his back. “It was a nightmare” His voice is soft. “That I failed...and you all died. I hid my emotions because it’s…..stupid. I didn’t want to wake anyone else like I woke you. That’s all.”    
  
“You didn’t wake me.” Jaune said with a smile. “I had a nightmare to….Car” He shook his head. “Not important. What’s important is making  _ you  _ feel better” He smiled, pushing away the completely irrational nightmare of Cardin destroying his shield and using his own sword to slice apart his team. “Jasmine Tea is your favorite right? With a teaspoon of honey?” Ren burrows his head farther into Jaune’s onesie, this time to hide a  _ blush _ rather than tears. He’d never said it, Jaune just  _ noticed _ .    
  
“I’ll get tea with you if you tell me what woke you up.” He counters. “I also wish for you to feel safe in your emotions around me.” Jaune had an expressive face, so Ren was free to bite back a smile as the two left the dorm for tea and talking and getting a headstart on making breakfast. 

**_Food For Thought_ **

Something’s wrong with Nora. Jaune’s noticed it. And if  _ Jaune  _ noticed it then there was a massive problem because that means that Ren’s noticed it and hasn’t been able to stop it.  _ Asking _ Nora what was wrong won’t do it, it’s  _ Nora _ . She’d claim that nothing was wrong until it was worse. Ren would have asked her if it was as simple as that…..or Ren had decided that whatever this  _ specifically _ was, it was a lost cause. Jaune gave up on a  _ LOT _ of things, hopes, dreams, the possibility of passing last week’s test, he did NOT give up on his team!  _ Not anymore _ so he stuck it out, using his own determination to effectively stalk his teammate…...very easy when one considers they slept in the same room and took all their classes together. He watched her and found that, though she was happy and bouncy still, she was lethargic. Her boundless energy only lasted an hour at most, and she’d start getting a headache. 

The problem, he found out after a few weeks (and the knowledge that he’d apparently  **ACED** that test he was worried about) was her eating. Not that she didn’t eat enough, but more that she only seemed to eat sweets. Baked goods. Whether it be pancakes or cake nothing else passed her lips….so…..no meat, no vegetables, no fruit,,,,,,he was starting to see the problem here….. Okay so…….. He took a deep breath. Team Leader Time…….and…...He blinked, a smirk coming unto his face. Maybe Pyrrha had a point about him thinking…..   
  
“What have you been doing to me?” Nora asked. Jaune looked up at the voice…..then registered it was  _ NORA  _ and looked down at the shorter girl bouncing. 

“I have….. _ no  _ idea what you mean or what you’re talking about” He answered, shaking his head at her….and biting back a smile.. He was rolling out the pie crust as thin as he could get it without exposing so much butter that it started to melt. It was a delicate line.    
  
“How have you been sneaking me vegetables?” She asks point blank. Jaune’s smile gets worse and he stifles a laugh as he turns back to his task. “I mean it!” Her growl gets worse. There’s no awer from him for a while as he applies the crust to the pies and slides them in the oven. “No  _ seriously _ ” She wines. “Ren wants to know the secret…...he’s also making me thank you for me not being dizzy.” Jaune chuckles. “So how’da do it? I HATE veggies.” 

“But you love baked goods,” Jaune points out with a grin. 

“ _ Annnnnnnndddd?  _ How does that explain how you get me to eat veggies.” Her eyes widened as she noticed that behind him, was some of the spicy bread he’d been letting her have, right out of the oven, still warm with steam wafting off of it. Some base instinct that had formed out of eating as much as she could with no idea when the next bit of food was coming. It was the same base instinct that screamed at her to consume carbs  **_CONSTANTLY_ ** . Her eyes zeroed in on the bread and Jaune noticed.    
  
“You want some?” He asked, giving her a hearty slice. “Come on, it’s  _ goooooooood”  _ Nora took the bread, eyes wide in distrust. She was three bites in before Jaune played his hand. “It’s got carrot, zucchini and squash in it.” He watched her carefully. Her face went from surprised, to betrayed, to begrudging acceptance in the span of a few seconds. She accepted another slice, but was pouting as she walked away. Jaune glowed with pride, he’d used something forced on him plus his ability to plan and helped his team. Maybe he  _ was _ a decent leader after all. ……. He wasn’t stupid enough to tell her she was eating meat and vegetable pies while distracted by flakey crust. 

**_Snowflake Hearts_ **

Mantle was always freezing, ALL the time. Ren absolutely hated it. Granted, not many people could  _ tell _ when he hated something. But Nora hadn’t been his best friend since childhood without catching unto a few things. It made sense. Grimm were able to hunt them less when they were starving in the summertime. It was when they were starving, and freezing, and terrified that it would be the night they died that it was  _ rrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaalllllllllllyyyyyy _ easy to track them. That had to be bad, physiological stuff. She frowned as she looked at the hidden scowl in the corner of his eye. Hmmmmm. How to brighten up his mood.    
  
“RENNIE!!!” The secret scowl flickered out of existence, replaced by a secret smile. No matter HOW MUCH He protested on the nickname, he  _ loved it _ . There was no hiding yourself from Nora the finder! 

“Yes Nora?” He asked with a put upon weariness.    
  
“You want some hot coco? I saw a vendor!” The scowl was back. 

“No thank you. You can have some.” He seemed more upset than before, quickening his pace on the wall. Her face fell as she looked at him so upset. But hey, she was  _ the Ren whisperer _ she’d handle this problem in nothing flat! …...It wasn’t nothing flat. For the next week, nothing helped. He never wanted Coco, soup seemed like an insult, offers for a snowball fight or snow men or even snow  _ angels _ were shot down in fire. It was……..she had a  _ lot _ of optimism but…..

Ren, for all that he was locked in his emotions about the snow, noticed instantly when Nora was down. He frowned at first, trying to force himself to say….anything honestly. Usually she was the bright spot in his life.    


“Nora…..is everything okay?” He regretted not going to the hot chocolate stand with her even once, he didn’t know how she liked it. He should have realized that she was a little bit more fragile….. _ here _ . 

“I’m fine” That was a lie if he’d ever heard one. “I just….I know you don’t like the cold but….I just…..thought I could find  _ something  _ about it to cheer you up a little.”    
  
“I love the cold” He said honestly, startling her. “Well, less the  _ cold _ and more snow.” He gazed out over the wall they were guarding, looking to the pristine landscape of Solitas. “It snowed every winter in Kuroyuri. It was my mother’s favorite season. She made the best hot chocolate.” Nora stopped to look hard at him. “She stayed out so long making snow men with me that she’d get sick. Every year, without fail. My Father always made us soup. I wasn’t sick, but she’d pretend she didn’t want to drink it so that I would….I used to hate soup.”

  
“I’m so sorry” Nora started. He shook his head.    
  
“You couldn’t have known. It wasn’t cold enough for a solid coat of snow in Vale. It didn’t stay snowing for very long when we were children. It only counts as ‘Winter’ after a week of Snow. And….we were in and out of Argus. I…..I’ll be fine. And I know you’re waiting for me to be better so you can show off where you used to li-” His words are cut off. Her tackle is so hard and unexpected that if  _ she  _ didn’t know her own strength and that she’d wreck him, he would’ve been tossed  _ off  _ of the wall.    
  
The next day the persistent secret scowl is gone. The reason may or may not have something to do with the fact that their scarves, hats, and gloves have been switched. Ren has a very real moment of worrying for Nora’s continued health and safety because her winter gear was…...he pulled the peacoat tiger around himself. This needed to be worn in  _ spring _ . But she was back to normal, as normal as she could be in Atlas at least. He could be upset about a lot…..he’d deal with a lot more for her smile.

**_Turnabout is fair play_ **

  
  


“Damn it” The book is instantly shut and pink eyes are staring in  _ wonder  _ at the petal pink lips that have just spoken. They’re alone in the dorm and neither Jaune nor Nora would EVER believe this. But Pyrrha Nikos was in the mirror scowling at her hair like it had personally offended her. Her mother had an odd respawning semblance. Long story short, it wasn’t the first time Pyrrha had died. She had nine extra lives. Well….at this point it was more like four. Still. When they’d ran into Mrs Nikos in Mistral she was overjoyed to guide them to Pyrrha. Apparently her memory was gone until something sparked it, and her team had done just that. They were in Atlas now, but NONE of that was anywhere  _ near  _ as exciting as the fact that he’d just heard her  _ curse _ .    
  
“So what caused  _ that?”  _ She jumped about a foot in the air, she must have thought she was alone. A fair assessment. He hasn’t moved since she went into the bathroom to clean up for their first date and both Jaune and Nora ran out to RWBY’s room to get ready. Her face was bright red and her hand over her mouth, she….hadn’t…...been…..expecting. Her face matches her hair for a moment before she forces herself to speak. 

“I can’t think of anything to do with my hair” she admits after a long moment of her quiet boyfriend ‘ _ She has multiple boyfriends AND a girlfriend and the first date is the most important and if she wasn’t absolutely amazing on this date they’d all break up and it would be her fault and-’  _ her internal monologue is cut off as Ren is very suddenly in  _ front  _ of her, biting his lip as he looks at her intently. She blushes, she’d been sitting down at the vanity, hoping that the new environment would help. This meant that for once, Ren was taller than her. She resists the urge to squirm at the sensation but his eyes narrow as he studies her. Then suddenly….his face grows impossibly soft, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. The sight makes her heart skip.    


“May I?” He asks gently, and she’s powerless to do more than nod and obey as he tells her to close her eyes. For a long moment, that’s it. She can feel him pulling at her hair, every movement gentle, as if done in reverence. They have two hours, so it’s no real surprise that Ren’s not rushing to get ready. He had ironed an outfit and then put it in an opaque bag before anyone could tell what it was. So he takes his time. She chances a glance up at him through her eyelashes. That soft look is still on his face, along with one of reverence and concentration. “Closed. I get too flustered with you looking at me” And his voice  _ does _ have a hitch too it. She can’t stop smiling as she obediently slides her eyes closed. “I’m going into the bathroom to change. You can open your eyes.” Could she? His voice was still a waver, soft, and awed. She waited until she heard the door close and opened them. 

_ Oh _ …….No wonder he’d been breathless. Her hair was pulled into a high ponytail as usual, though this time she was crowned by curls, the bottom of her hair was ringlets and her eyes, he’d arranged her bangs, curling them slightly in front of her eyes so that they caught your attention. She smiled to herself…..then decided to torturer everyone by adding eyeliner. 

She didn’t get to see Ren before the door was knocked, but Jaune and Nora had the same reaction as he had to seeing her, soft looks that were mirrored in her own eyes. Then Ren opened the bathroom door and all bets were off. His hair was in loose side braid, two strands framing his face...his deep green suit is immediately wrinkled by hugs and….in the end….the date ends up being food ordered to the dorm, all four of them too busy falling over compliments to the others to remember to leave for their reservations. 

  
  
  
  


**_Attention Grabber_ **

Again Pyrrha was held up giving autographs and fighting advice to some little huntsman. It happened anytime she walked  _ anywhere.  _ Normally she didn’t mind. After all, she’d been a celebrity for most of her life. She was used to  _ especially  _ when she was traveling Mistral, hordes of people-from small want to be huntsmen, to actual huntsmen asking for advice, to random people in awe of her or wanting to tell her how she inspired them.  **_HORDES_ ** of people stopping her, talking to her, asking for advice, for autographs, for pictures. It happened constantly, and normally she didn’t mind.  _ Normally _ . It was Date Day, and she’d been late to the last five, one of which  _ she’d _ planned. And she was going to be late again!    
  
“I really have to go” She smiled at the crowd, eyes drifting up to the clock face. Half an hour late and still far too many people.    
  
“Miss Prra?” Ohhh, the toddler couldn't quite say her name, but had a hopeful expression and was holding up the camera and a pen. “Pweese?” Her heart  _ ached.  _ Okay, maybe one last person. But as she reached for the toddler, there were twins in front of her quite suddenly. 

“Mrs Nikos?” Her eyes fell on them, practiced smile a bit strained. They were asking about preparations for the huntsman entrance exams. And those  _ were _ important questions. And she had a duty to answer to the best of her ability. As she wrapped up with the twins, the crowd around her seemed to have grown. There was a woman in  _ tears _ asking about how to tell when Polyamory was Healthy rather than harmful. Well  **_THAT_ ** was important! She was answering when she heard the whine of the toddler, who couldn’t stay because their mother was calling them. 

“Hey Kiddo! She was just about to get to you” Pyrrha’s eyes lit up and her strained pageant smile relaxed into something more real as Nora’s voice came through. The woman was right behind her voice, the crowd parting like water around a stone for the living lightning bolt, currently making her own electricity and making a small circle of static around herself. Upon reaching her wife Nora leaned up as high as she could…..being as she was still hilariously too short Pyrrha bent down to meet her halfway.    
  
“I’m so sorry. I just got held up.” The taller redhead explains. Nora waggles her finger at her, though by the smirk, Pyrrha’s not in any actual trouble.    
  
“Don’t worry. You’re not the only one that couldn’t make it. The air ship was attacked so the boys couldn’t come.” By the fact that she’s both smiling and still clean Pyrrha takes it as a sign that their husbands were fine, just indisposed. “You  _ are _ the only one that didn’t text” Nora adds cheekily. “You take your pictures, I’ll talk about relationships, and when I’m done we’re going okay?” The weight lifted itself off of Pyrrha’s chest. After al, there was no crushing fear of leaving before you got done with everyone if it…. _ wasn’t your fault _

Had it been anyone but Nora it wouldn’t have worked. But the Pink clad woman was  _ very good  _ at what she did. Though the swarm tried to crowd again, to guilt Pyrrha into staying, Nora lifted her hammer and sent a lightning bolt up into the air to halt the clamoring. 

“That is ALL for Today.  **_I_ ** would like access to my wife thanks.” The words and even tone was friendly enough, but Nora had stood on table so that her lightning was unobstructed and the grin she sported was enough to make even the most determined  _ flinch  _ And so they dispersed and Pyrrha went, chuckling to her wife.    


“You didn’t need to scare them” She chided gently.   
  
“I wouldn’t have, except they were grabbing for you so I shoulda broke a few arms.”   
  
“Thank you for not breaking arms.” Nora grinned easily and the two walked away from the now empty square. “I can probably get us in somewhere. Since I messed up the reservations? I know a few good places” Nora fake gasped.   
  
“Using your fame to get us a table? Who are you and what have you done with My Pyrrha?” 

“It’s called Guilt, very in this season.” Pyrrha couldn’t help the chuckle that bubbled out, and Nora’s answering cackle warmed her heart. There were a few that saw them walking and called over, but it was no use, the champion was  **_far_ ** too engrossed in her partner’s smile.


	5. Different forms of the Same Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So.....Cuddle/movie night's not happening. It's not that it's hard, it's the same problems I have with writing straight (They're not lolz) Arkos or RenNora. My brain doesn't like concentrating on simple things at all and it's WAY to easy for them to all just cuddle watching movies. To give you an idea of the needlessly complicated way my brain works.....this one was written *first*.....and in like 3 days even studying for a test and working most of the time. Like half of it was written on my phone on the bus. Fun fact. This can all be retranslated with google. In case you're lazy, I did it on the bottom.

**_ 6-Promt: AU _ **

**_Pyrrha Nikos_ **

The night she turned ten, three things happened to one Pyrrha Nikos. None of them were the things she was expecting. She was sitting down at 11:59 with her parents. It was far past her bedtime and there was no way she was going to be able to do training at 5 am. But this was a special occasion. She watched her hair critically, waiting for the lock that would change. She kept it long for just this reason. Her parents watched their only daughter rock back and forth with barely restrained joy in front of her floor length mirror, Red locks pulled in front of her shoulders.    
  
‘ _ Je m'appelle Jaune...et toi? _ ’appeared on her wrist, wrapped around and snaking up her palm. …. What? Her head tiled as she looked at the unfamiliar language. She was so busy looking at her hand she  _ almost  _ missed what was happening on her stomach. A dull pain as the yellowing bruise blossomed up on her abdomen. Almost right next to it was…..some language from Mistral. She’d gone on a tour there once. She needed to figure it out.    
  
She looked at the uncomfortable things on her body, then up to her unchanged hair. … A smirk pulled at her lips as she looked at her parents. “Can we move to Mistral?” She asked.    
  
  


It took a few years for her contract to be up and to find a decent school in the kingdom Mistral. They eventually found Sanctum in the college town of Argus. It was tough, she was trying not to cause too many bruises. The person on the other side might not have appreciated her attempting to be an Olympian. Still; track, shot put, javelin, sprint running, hurdles….well there was no doubt the bruises were getting at least  _ partially _ returned. Hopefully bruises knew she was there, even if she was still trying to find the right language. 

She’d gone through at least 30, learning a little bit of every dialect she could, drawing on her arm everything from hanzi, to hanja, to Han Nom and everything in between. But she could never understand anything that came through. …. That changed today! She squinted at the words on her arm-a very simple sentence.   
  
‘ _I write…._ ’ She could have screamed in frustration! Of _course_ she couldn’t understand the important word! She went to all of her teachers and classmates for the translation….but she finally got the word…..and the knowledge that she’d moved to the opposite side of the kingdom from them….of fucking course. But...she had a language-Kanji. It was used in the far easten side of the kingdom. She scoured the bookstores until she found a translation guide book….for her translation guide book. She was still learning how to speak to her classmates.   
  
‘ _Hello?_ _’_ She wrote on her thigh as she wrapped her ankle. ‘ _Ah, there you are.’_ She flipped between the books and wrote down what was being said just as it started to fade. _‘You are learning yes?’_ Pyrrha almost jumped _‘_ _Yes. How’d you know?’_ There was a pause and upon translating and _re_ -translating, she was quite sure that her soulmate had a sense of humor and was probably chuckling at her. _‘Your handwriting is terrible to be honest. And you take a while to speak back’_ She grabs another notebook and wrote down what she was trying to say. ‘ _I’m at Argus. Country, Seoul_ ’ ‘ _I’m in the City of Kuroyuri...in Kyoto….”_ She grinned brightly at the words, writing them in her journal dutifully, even as a pain shot through her arm and the bruise showed up down her bicep. She looked over and copied once again. _‘I’ll try to arrange a trip there._ ’ ‘ _are you alright? You get injured a lot’_ Pyhrra blinked at the message, but smiled as she translated her response. ‘ _I’m not the sharing of bruises. It seems we have at least two. My hair color will show up in your hair.’_ there was a long pause then, she assumed they left to do something else. Then the message came through. ‘ _Ah. That lock is uniquely annoying to me. I happen to have a genetic pink streak on the opposite side.’_ Pyrrha laughed and smiled as the words faded. ‘ _What is your first language?’ ‘_ _Common ironically. I traveled a lot. As did my parents.’_ _‘Common is what I will learn then. It makes sense. Our other partners are no area in common’_ _‘We may have have three from Solitas with the amount of injuries_ ’ She smiled at her joke and was up late into the night conversing.   
  


**_Jaune Arc_ **

  
  


It had been...disconcerting…..growing up. He’d felt horrible. After all, everyone around him had their words. The words of course, being the first words your soulmate would say to you….he’d sobbed his heart out every day from his 10th birthday until….now. Now, in the library looking at the book of soulmates. At sixteen years old, Jaune Arc had never gotten the words that would be the first words his soulmate spoke to him. He’d thought he was broken. He thought he was loveless. He thought it was impossible. Everyone he knew had words of their own. There had been the possibility, he’d tried to reason, that he was way older than his future soulmate. But here in this book, it was another possible option. Vaucluse was a small country in the Kingdom of Vale...Ménerbes, was an even smaller village. With so few people ever leaving, it was no real surprise everyone he knew had their words. No one left the kingdom.  
  
He looked down at the strange artwork that vanished again, he looked back at the book and back at the now bare space on his arm. He felt…..stupid honestly. What were the chances that this was actually a possibility? Not great….But if so…..he felt bad. He dipped his quill in the ink and gently wrote on his arm.   
  
_‘Je Désolé._ ’ He wrote, apologizing for not writing earlier.. For a moment, nothing…..then the artwork bloomed up again, faster this time. Spiraling up his arm like some strange tattoo. Jaune blinked at it. It started to fade ‘ _Je ne sais pas ce que tu dis’_ He wrote. He had no clue what the artwork meant. Allegedly….it was his soulmate. He winced as he felt his side bloom into pain. He checked under his shirt. Sure enough the mark blooming might scar his soulmate. _‘Qu'est-ce que tu fais?’_ he questioned. Why were they so dangerous? The artwork showed up again, but shorter. Then a _number_ 16\. He recognized that! He repeated the number and…. _apparently_ sent it back. He was 16 too!   
  
He tucked the one fire red lock of hair behind his ear along with the blonde that had fallen. He continued to read about Soulmates. Apparently the book was right! Minstralians had body writing! But…..but Vacuans had matching hair….and the people of Solitas had matching bruises…..so….where was his soulmate from?

  
  
  


**_Nora Valkyrie_**  
  
  


It was bad form in the kingdom of Solitas to get scuffed up to baddly. After all, it wasn’t  _ your  _ body that would be bearing all of the marks. You’d be absolutely fine and fair and your soulmate would be the one scuffed up. The wealthy in some countries like Munich were able to waltz around with perfect skin and only cause the slightest pricks to their skin to alert their soulmates to the fact that they were looking for them.    
  
When she hit ten and didn’t immediately bloom into a bouquet she got  _ violently  _ angry at the fact that she was stuck with some priss pots from somewhere where they could afford to tiptoe around and not get harmed until they wanted to. Unluckily for them, she was clumsy anyway. When she was  _ trying _ to cause damage to herself? Whoever she was stuck with was going to be black, blue, yellow, and purple. Sometimes  _ something _ showed up on her arm. But usually when she was on her way to bed or just waking up. It was weird. Almost as weird as the one random bright red streak in her orange hair. Trying to cut it just wrecked her hair because a  _ different  _ lock would turn that same strange shade. She’d tried to dye it a few times...to no avail. The stubborn streak wouldn’t go away!    
  
Unfortunately, no matter how much she slammed herself into whatever she could...her skin stayed pristine. Not…. _ pristine _ , but not  _ good. _ Just a few bumped knees and sometimes a yellow spot on her temples.  _ Someone  _ was tall. Well, hopefully she was making  _ some  _ rich fuck’s life miserible. She lived in the urban blight of Mantle, in the country of Saarland. She wasn’t exactly the best out there. But being unmarked made everything by far worse. It made people stare at her as if she was too good for them. And then they tried to bruise her just to get back at her partners…..they didn’t tend to walk right after messing with her. Well….not  _ totally  _ unmarked. On the corner where her shoulder met her neck was a phrase.  _ ‘Je suis tellement stupide, ça va?’ _ …… it was absolute nonsense to her. She sometimes pressed at it. The mark was on display today. Underground fighting paid  _ really well. _ All the violence, none of subjecting your own soulmate to it. Tonight her costume had gotten ripped. Oh well, the other sucker needed a ride to the nearest hospital.

“You got a Valeian?” Nora stopped looking over Flynt. He was a pretty nice dude, even if he only had a few bruises.    
  
“Gesundheit?” She offered. He chuckled as he handed her the cut she was due.    
  
“That Language. It’s Valeian. My Mom was from Vale. Pa has some. I know a bit.”    
  


“This is an actual  _ thing!?”  _ Nora demanded. Wow….knowing that an actual  _ person _ was on the other side made a weight she didn’t know she had lift off of her chest. It was probably equal parts relief that it wasn’t some wealthy jackass to the sudden minor guilt that she’d been causing some poor Valien all the pain in the world.  _ Opps _ . “A  _ Valeian _ ?” She demanded. Where the fuck was she actually supposed to meet them? She looked at the underground ring where she was celebrated as a Beserker. Vale was soft and peaceful….and a whole kingdom away. She pressed at her words again, wondering where she was supposed to fit in with someone calm and gentle.    
  


  
  


**_Lie Ren_ **

Lie Ren was a small boy, a quiet boy, a kind boy. He was sure that when he was ten he’d find the loves of his life like his parents had. As it turned out, Soulmates were region locked. At least, the way they came out was. Even if you later moved, it was where you took your first breath. If you happened to be on the open ocean when you were born like his poor mother, your soulmate would just get a symbol somewhere on themselves that identified you.    
  
It was why his parents had moved to Mistral the moment his mother became pregnant. It was by far, the  _ easiest  _ way to find your soulmate. They’d meant to just let their son be born there….then An fell in love with the culture of Kyoto and managed to get a position teaching forign languages in a small state. Li wasn’t able to deny his wife anything…..after she’d died, he wasn’t willing to let go of her memory, and so stayed in the city she’d chosen and even became mayor of it.

So Little Lie, as his mother had once called him, grew up very serious. After all, his parents had spent their whole lives just missing each other. Li had been unfortunate enough to be born in the kingdom of Vale. He got a symbol, she got a ‘hello’ in a language she couldn't understand. 

At ten years old Ren was very seriously studying his skin, looking for anything at all. ‘ _ Putain de merde tu es belle _ ’ It appeared a few weeks later on his chest. No clue what it said, but apparently they were born in the kingdom of Vale. …. That didn’t help him narrowing down the  _ language _ itself, but he knew where they’d been born. That was wonderful. Completely unhelpful but….still. 

It was a few months later that a red streak appeared in his hair. …. He took a deep breath and tried not to scowl at it. The placement was…. _ unfortunate _ . It hung directly across from the pink streak that he couldn’t dye. Well….he  _ could _ but it was a genetic anomaly he’d gotten from his mother, so had more than a few reservations about changing it. 

His writings went unanswered. He was alright with that. As it was impossible to be  _ born _ in two places at once, he figured that he had two. Then, almost a full year later,  _ pain _ . Ah, another person! Younger. then.. He looked at the bruise on his leg. Well...that was unfortunate.    
  
While he did do martial arts, it was mostly Tai Chi and the attacks he did do, were to stationary objects. Good for him since the poor bruised person probably wouldn’t appreciate more. Not that they answered him either. He didn’t let it bother him. After all, they probably didn’t have mixed region parents to help them out. He could make himself feel better practicing for them. After all, one day he’d meet them, three people. His parents hadn’t realized they were in love at first, not until it sank in that An was  _ just _ the type of person to be represented with a pink lotus. And she’d laughed until she cried learning that the man she’d been ignoring her attraction too really  _ was _ the love of her life. No...even with hints, he had to make them fall. So he practiced his poetry. And when he met them...he was ready to make their heads spin with affection.    
  
  
It was then an  _ immense _ surprise when suddenly, as he was writing a small poem about how wondrous he hoped they would be, an answer appeared. He didn’t know the language, but he knew it was an answer. Mostly because it only showed up in the gaps when he stopped writing. He didn’t know the language, but….he at least  _ recognized  _ it. ….and blinked several times. Someone….was in  _ Mistral _ . 

  
  
  


**_VYTAL_ **

  
  


Jaune was softly grumbling to himself, mostly in Valian still. He wasn’t good at ‘Common’, but luckily Saphron had helped him. And he’d probably get more than enough practice in this stupid language. He’d applied here only because his soul mate had made it seem important. After all, they’d written ‘Vytal’ on him so much that he almost mistook the ink for his skin and wondered when it had changed before he’d fully woken up.   
  
Getting in was a miracle and he thanked Ciiyan profusely for helping him study. He knew that she had _WAY_ better things to do than deal with him and his inability to understand even the most simple of concepts. But how would he understand them in Common? Hopefully his soulmate was nice enough to help him.   
  
He tried, and failed to read his dorm assignment paper. It was no use. He was burdened with his clothes, schoolbooks, guitar, gifts for his soulmate….backup gifts for if they didn’t like the first ones, translation books, regular books that he liked, a sound machine and sheets to make him feel more at home so that he didn’t embarrass himself crying or something.   
  
“Can I help you with something?” He yelped as the paper was taken from his hand, as well as several bags. “Ah, We’re in the same room.” Without his vision obscured, he could see the owner of the voice, a beautiful young woman with warm eyes and a kind smile. She was close enough that he could see the barely noticeable freckles that dotted peach skin. “Hello?” She asked. He shook his head. He had a soulmate to find! He shouldn’t get distracted by a pretty girl….even one _this_ pretty and she was staring at him Merde! Had he just been staring at her!   
  
“Je m'appelle Jaune!” He practically shouted at her. ‘Baise ma vie’ he thought to himself. How to fix screaming at her? “Cet toi?” He attempted, a rough facsimile of a smile he could _feel_ being awkward was on his lips. Weirdly, she looked like she wanted to laugh at him. Well, no, laughing at him wasn’t the weird part. The weird part was that she didn’t look like she wanted malicious laughter. More pleasantly amused.   
  
“Pyrrha.” She giggled. “This way. You were the last one to arrive. So you have the last choice of bed I’m sorry to say.” He had…..well, He was catching every third word. He nodded and followed along to see her place his things on the furthest bed. He put his things on the bed as well. Well, more of _hurling_ them on the bed.. As his arms swung backward, his elbow hit something. Turning showed a _solidly_ built young woman, rubbing at the shoulder he’d hit  
  
“Je suis tellement stupide, ça va?” His eyes were wide. He’d been flailing again hadn’t he? He _always_ flailed. “AH! Je suis si maladroit Désolé!” The girl was looking at him, a grin sneaking onto her face.   
  
“Oh danke ficken! Ich dachte du wärst ein Schwächling. Das hatte GEWICHT” Jaune blinked at her. Not because of how happy she’d seemed but because   
  
“Langsam sprechen. Ich bin rostig.” Saphron had found her soulmate, but Terra was all the way in Mantle, Her parents had moved for work ages ago. But Saph had needed someone to practice with.  
  
“SIE SPRECHEN MEINE SPRACHE!!!” Nora jumped at him again. He braced himself to catch her….and she looked up in unbridled awe. “Drei von drei können mich abholen!” He blinked at that. Three out of three? Maybe he was rustier than he thought. Pyrrha was looking at the two of them, something _brilliantly_ happy in her eyes.   
  
“See Nora. I told you they’d pass.” Jaune blinked in confusion, even as he put the smaller woman down. Merde, was there a test this soon?  


“I am not to being sure.” Her accent is thick, though her words are quick and heavy. .He automatically feels better for his slow speaking that Ciiyan had assured him had no accent. “If am to being Soul of Mates are want to good for bald Liebe sein.” Pyrrha smiles softly, showing that she had actually understood Nora’s term of endearment and Nora gives her a crooked smile as heavy as her accent, only this weight was hopeful.   
  
“You….are….soulmates? Con….Congratulations.” Pyrrha and Nora both look at him and he can _feel_ the blush that settles on his cheeks.   
  
“Jaune?” Pyrrha asks, and holds out her wrist. “Is _this_ your handwriting?” He blinks in confusion.   
  
“What….do….you….mean? You...found...your….soulmate. I….need...to...find….” Blue eye blinked at her wrist. That was….his….he gently reached around her wrist to examine it. As was customary, once he touched the words, they glowed brilliantly before fading from black to red. Pyrrha smiled. “Ok ... euh ... oui ... J'avoue que je suis vraiment confuse maintenant. Je ne comprends pas.” He blinked at her smiling face as the thought entered his mind that, _perhaps_ rather than one very odd soulmate exhibiting all the known traits...he had more than one. His eyes went to her ruby hair, and the matching streak in Nora’s. He pulled his red lock forward to note that, yes...it _also_ matched. So...he had...two….wait, Nora? Was that her name? Nora had said three so...who was….  
  
The bathroom door opened and steam filled the room as a man exited, a towel slung low around his hips and another around the top of an inky curtain of hair. Blossom pink eyes widened as he took in the new person, before questioning eyes landed on Pyrrha.   
  
“Watashi wa arukimawatte, saigo no mono o mitsukemashita.” She spoke at once, with a small smirk. She didn’t sound quite _right_ while speaking the language. Her lips curled carefully around the language.. Ren blinked a few more times.   


“Karera ga onaji kami no iro o motte iruto dō narimasu ka?” Nora and Jaune both _shivered_ at the smooth voice. Pyrrha raised her wrist to show the new color and the man bowed his head. “Watashi wa machigatte iru to mitomemasu” He smiled at Jaune. “Apologies” His lips formed almost _tenderly_ over the common, he spoke it smoothly, but it fit unfamiliarly in his mouth. “We arrived early in the morning yesterday and found Nora relatively quickly. We assumed that you were not able to arrive until tomorrow, the day classes started. I took the time to wash my hair.” Jaune was motionless, face scarlet as he looked at the man. While the statement on his chest was both true and what he was thinking…. _way to put him on the spot_   
  
“ _Putain de merde tu es belle”_ Prying the words out with a _crowbar_ may have been slightly less painful. Those were his apparent first words to his soulmate. Those were the words that had crafted his soulmate’s opinion of him before they even met. Pyrrha had gotten off easy. It had just been an introduction. Nora….well Nora had known he’d _done_ something but...But _STILL_ anything was better. And his _chest_ did the man think he was some sort of deviant? But he was smirking, no doubt unaware of what had been said. 

“Merci beaucoup.” The man said, Jaune made a strangled sound. HE KNEW “Tu es adorable tout rouge” And he winked. …. And Jaune passed out, falling forward and into Ren’s chest and changing the color, even as the smaller boy reached up to grab him. He had a  _ nosebleed _ . Pyrrha scowled at Ren and Nora was laughing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Je m'appelle Jaune...et toi?’- "My name is Jaune......and You?"
> 
> ‘Je Désolé.’- "I'm sorry"
> 
> Je ne sais pas ce que tu dis’-"I don't know what you are saying" 
> 
> 'Qu'est-ce que tu fais?'- "What are you doing?
> 
> 'Je suis tellement stupide, ça va?’-"I'm so stupid, are you okay?"
> 
> 'Putain de merde tu es belle'- "Holy shit you're gorgeous"
> 
> Merde!-"Fuck!"
> 
> ‘Baise ma vie’- "Fuck my life"
> 
> 'Je suis si maladroit Désolé!'-"I'm so clumsy, Sorry!"
> 
> 'Oh danke ficken! Ich dachte du wärst ein Schwächling. Das hatte GEWICHT'- "Oh thank fuck! I thought you were a pushover. That had WEIGHT"
> 
> 'Langsam sprechen. Ich bin rostig.'- "Speak slowly. I'm rusty"
> 
> 'SIE SPRECHEN MEINE SPRACHE!!!'- "YOU SPEAK MY LANGUAGE"
> 
> 'Drei von drei können mich abholen!'- "Three out of three can pick me up!"
> 
> 'bald Liebe sein'- "Soon to be Love"
> 
> 'oui ... J'avoue que je suis vraiment confuse maintenant. Je ne comprends pas.' "yes ... I admit that I am really confused now. I do not understand"
> 
> 'Watashi wa arukimawatte, saigo no mono o mitsukemashita'- "I looked around and found the last one"
> 
> 'Karera ga onaji kami no iro o motte iruto dō narimasu ka?'-"How can you tell if he's ours?"
> 
> 'Watashi wa machigatte iru to mitomemasu'-"I can admit when I'm wrong"
> 
> 'Merci beaucoup.'- "Thank you very much
> 
> 'Tu es adorable tout rouge'-"You are adorable all red"


End file.
